Steppenwolf Theatre Company ensemble member Amy Morton will direct Scott Jaeck, John Mahoney and Logan Vaughn and ensemble members Ian Barford and Yasen Peyankov in Enda Walsh's Penelope at Steppenwolf's Downstairs Theatre in Chicago.

John Mahoney
Photo by Aubrey Reuben

The quirky modern take on suitors vying for Penelope as she awaits her husband's return from war will run Dec. 1, 2011-Feb. 5, 2012. It opens Dec. 11.

Here's how Steppenwolf characterizes the work by Irish writer Walsh: "On a sun-scorched island off the coast of Greece, beautiful Penelope (played by Logan Vaughn) awaits the return of her husband from war. Beneath her window, four Speedo-clad men camp in an empty swimming pool, a cock-eyed internment where both provisions and time are running low. Locked in a do-or-die competition to win Penelope’s love, they preen and posture and connive in a last ditch effort to cheat a grisly fate. Penelope…is an eloquent, wildly funny riff on life, love and the war at home."

Chicago and New York theatre actor Mahoney is a 1986 Tony Award winner for House of Blue Leaves. He's best known for his work on TV's "Frasier."

Obie Award-winning playwright Walsh wrote the plays Disco Pig, The Walworth Farce, The New Electric Ballroom and Chatroom. His 2008 biopic, "Hunger," won numerous awards including the Camera d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival. Morton's many Steppenwolf directing credits include Clybourne Park, American Buffalo, Dublin Carol, The Weir, The Pillowman, Love-Lies-Bleeding (also Kennedy Center) and Glengarry Glen Ross (also Dublin and Toronto).